What Does VR Mean For PR?
How will virtual reality journalism impact brand storytelling?
This past weekend, New York Times subscribers received a surprise in their Sunday newspapers: a Google Cardboard viewer – a device that allows “readers” – or now “viewers” – to enter the Times’ new virtual reality (VR) platform and visually see stories come to life. The Times launched its new VR platform Nov. 5, with the release of its new mobile app NYT VR. The app is currently stocked with two immersive videos from New York Times Magazine: “The Displaced” – the story of three refugee children living in refugee camps, and “Walking New York” – a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the recent New York Times Magazine cover with artist JR.
The Times is not the first news outlet to try out this new form of storytelling. The launch follows the likes of ABC, The Wall Street Journal and Vice News, each of which has tried (and failed) to use the new medium to enhance the way they tell stories.
So what makes the Times’ rollout different? A little partnership with technology giant Google.
Over the weekend, they delivered more than a million cardboard VR viewers to subscribers, and all subscribers had to do was press “download” on the free app. Then, they had a virtual experience at their fingertips.
Since the launch, several news outlets have reported negative user feedback but, mostly, users are happy with their virtual experience. NYT VR currently has a four-out-of-five-star rating in both app stores.
So how does this impact PR?
The truth – I’m not quite sure, and I don’t think anyone is just yet. The Times understands that virtual reality journalism is still in its infancy and that there are kinks to work out, not the least of which is convincing people to place a piece of cardboard on their faces to get news, no matter how cool the experience is. However, they do believe it’s the future of storytelling. And, if it’s the future of storytelling, then PR will inevitably have a role in it.
In the coming weeks, I expect there to be a “re-launch” of sorts from the other outlets that have VR platforms available, including The Wall Street Journal. Its launch didn’t take off mostly because not enough readers had access to a VR viewer, but the Times and Google just solved that problem.
For now, I recommend downloading the handful of VR news apps, folding up your cardboard and enjoying the free immersive experience. Maybe, it will spark the next great idea for how we as PR professionals can insert ourselves into the world of virtual reality storytelling.
Who knows, someday, we might even pitch reporters in VR.
This post originally appeared on InkHouse Media + Marketing's Inklings blog, which you can view here.
Good stuff, Kaylin, thanks. I think journalism will continue to be challenged on revenue streams in the digital age, so VR might be a way to generate additional funds....pay a small amount to view or download, etc.
Nice post Kaylin, I agree, VR is going to be a major influence in journalism and reporting in the coming years especially as consumer headsets become more widely used and available. I picture virtual reality as the ability to literally see the world through someone else's eyes, it's the ultimate form of empathy. I can picture a time where virtual reality would become apart of the journalism curriculum, similar to how Twitter and social media is now discussed and taught in college classes.
Hi Kaylin, nice article. Count me among those who was overall very impressed with the experience, despite a little blurriness. The ability to completely immerse myself in these child refugee stories, to the point of needing to grab hold of my kitchen counter for balance, was very cool. One of the advantages the NYT has over those who have tried this before is its national physical distribution channel in the form of Sunday hardcopy newspaper deliveries. In this world of declining hardcopy sales and the digitization of everything, the NYTimes is still widely enough distributed across the country that they were able to get these cardboard viewers into people's homes on a lazy Sunday morning when anyone would be up for a cool new experience over coffee. As you say, it will be interesting to see where #VR storytelling goes from here, and how strongly it influences future journalism and communications.